Since the beginning of this school year in August, the girls have been taking swimming lessons every Wednesday evening, two towns away. We found this teacher through our church friends who live in the town. This teacher had already taught her oldest daughter and done a great job, so she told all the rest of us about her. There are currently 6 kids from our ward taking swimming lessons from this same lady. What I really like is her relaxed approach to advancement. Meaning, she doesn't make you stay the entire semester in the beginning class, just because you have never been to her class before. She took the first two lessons, evaluated all the kids and then decided if they should be in the beginning, intermediate or advanced classes.
On her recommendation, we pulled Noah out completely, to wait for next year, and Sarah and Sophie moved up to the intermediate class. Of course, this means that we aren't in the same class as all the other church kids, but we do see them leaving as we are coming most days. The girls love it and have made lots of progress.
The time is slightly inconvenient, as the class starts right when we are normally eating dinner, but I just feed the kids a bit earlier, and it seems to work out okay. I always bring Alexandra with me, as there are a few minutes between when I have to leave and Chris arrives home from work where the kids are home alone. Having Amelia here as another big kid to take care of Noah has really been a huge help. Together she and Nick made a good couple of short-term babysitters.
Alexandra always manages to find lots to entertain herself with. This generally involves empty out the entire contents of my purse, examining each item with utmost scrutiny, and then placing them all back inside.
I cannot believe how well behaved she is, just hanging out on the bench with me while the girls swim. Her favorite part is when they are finished taking their showers. In the changing room, they have these nifty blow dryers mounted to the walls. You pull them down and stand underneath them, and they turn on with a motion sensor. It isn't hot air, just warm, and it doesn't blow too strongly, either. So, Alexandra always likes to go stand and "dry" her hair with the girls. She has even been known to run over to the drain the middle of the floor, rub her hands in the water there, rub it on her head, and then run back to the blow dryers so she can dry her hair some more. Maybe I should be grossed out that she does that, but instead we all just laugh.